Tag Archives: local favourite

It took us a while, but we finally made it to the Kangaroo Creek Farm in Winfield today. It’s been on our radar since visiting the zebra farm last summer, and I’m so glad we snuck it in before leaving.

The farm, which feels as rural as can be, is {sort of surprisingly} tucked in right behind the A&W when driving through Winfield on Highway 97. We arrived early this morning, found a free parking spot on the road above, and headed down the long driveway excited to see our first ‘roo. After making our donation (the farm works on an honour-based donation system), we entered the kangaroo enclosure and immediately ran into this little guy.

At first, Miss G, our little animal lover, was quite apprehensive and didn’t want to go near the ‘roos, but in a few minutes time, this was her… Loving on the animals in true Gracen style. Perhaps a wee bit too comfortable!

It was very neat to be able to wander around an open enclosure with the kangaroos, but without a doubt, Gracen’s favourite part was holding the babies.

We lined up not once, but three separate times to do so. Each time, Grae patiently waited the 10 or 15 minutes it took to get to the front, then hopped up on an empty chair, and waited another few minutes until she was passed a tiny ‘roo in a terry towel pouch.

While some of the babies were {understandably} pretty sleepy, others were quite alert and enjoyed sniffing and interacting with her (one even began nibbling on the lace collar of her dress!)

True to her very nurturing personality, she was super kind and gentle with each one. She’d run her cheek along the fur on their heads, greet them with a warm and soft ‘hello’, and tell them that they were ‘good little baby kangaroos’ and that she loved them sooo much.

We really enjoyed our morning spent with kangaroos. It was a totally unique experience and I loved how informal and non-commercial it all felt.

Miss G loved it too. So much so, that as we were driving out of Winfield (not 2 minutes from the farm), she excitedly proposed, “I have an idea! How about after my sleep we come back to the kangaroo farm for ANOTHER visit!”

If there’s one thing we’ve been doing more of this month, it’s definitely eating out. Normally, we eat out very rarely, but with our days filled with packing, sorting, organizing, and keeping little hands busy so they’re not digging in already packed boxes, we’ve been giving ourselves a break lately and eating some of our meals out. Not only does mean that I don’t have to cook and that Brad doesn’t have to do dishes, but it also gives us all a much needed break from being indoors.

Tonight, Brad suggested that we head down to Steveston for fish and chips, which I thought was brilliant. I’ve been meaning to take Miss G down to the oceanfront village forever and just haven’t gotten around to it, and with the weather as beautiful as it was today, it was the perfect place to enjoy some evening sunshine.

We arrived in Steveston, found parking, and headed straight to Pajo’s, which is pretty much an institution when it comes to fish and chips in the Lower Mainland.

Miss G and I scouted out a table while Brad headed off to order our dinner, and before long, he returned with this… 2 large halibut and chip orders with fresh lemon and tatar sauce. To say that it was delicious would be an understatement. It was so good in fact, that I ate more than I should have, even though Grae and I shared and then gave a good portion of our food to Brad to eat.Now if you know about our food philosophy when it come to feeding Miss G, you know that fried food like this isn’t something that happens usually. But, with Pajo’s sourcing their ingredients locally {and my moving exhaustion}, we decided to make an exception just for tonight. In fact, we even let her taste her very first french fry (*gasp!*)

She of course loved it, so we let her choose two more, and that was it. (Years ago I heard some crazy stat like ‘60% of North American kids’ first vegetable is french fries’ and whether it’s true or not, I think it may have scarred me for life.)Afterwards, we enjoyed a lovely walk along the boardwalk and checked out many of the fishing boats selling fresh seafood.

It was the perfect way to end another busy day, and I can already say that I can’t wait to do it again next summer.

Today we spent another lovely day at our Okanagan favourite, Davison Orchards. If you know me well, you know that my love of Davison’s has been around since I moved to the Okanagan when I was 11 years old. It was a place I loved visiting as a kid, a place I took the kids I babysat and nannied during high school and university, and it’s now a place I love bringing my own daughter. Delicious produce, beautiful views, and endless family-fun aside, I love Davison Orchards because it’s constantly growing and improving while staying true to it’s family-run farm roots – not an easy feat.

Grandma Sue and Rorie joined us today and despite our {very} regular visits, we tried two completely new-to-Gracen things this time around. First off, we jumped aboard the hourly tractor train ride and took a tour of the orchard while learning about its history and different fruits and veggies that are grown there. It’s been a few years since I last took the tour, and I have to say that I love hearing how passionate Grandpa Davison is about his orchard, even after all of these years. While the sitting quietly during the chatting part wasn’t Grae’s favourite part, she did love the ride and hearing about each of the plants/trees as we passed by.

Afterwards, while playing in the Crazy Cow Kid’s Corral, Gracen got to experience her first ever duck race after Grandma Sue gave her a toonie to buy a little rubber duckie. She’d plunk him into the tube, start pumping water, and as soon as he started moving, race to the end of the track to retrieve him. Such fun!

After a good long play, a visit to the animals, and some lunch at Auntie May’s Deep Dish Cafe, we picked up a big jug of Davison’s famous apple juice and headed home with our happy and tired girl. Another great day at Davison Orchards!

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

Being the uber generous, community-focused company that they are, RMFC invited Miss G and I, along with a pile of our blogger mama and munchkin friends, down to the restaurant for a toddler cooking class this morning. Now while this could be a challenge given our crunchy ‘food philosophy‘ as one of our lovely readers called it, the thing I love most about this place is that their philosophy on food totally jives with ours. Their ingredients are as simple and natural as possible, plus they’re most often organic and/or locally-sourced. Win!

Our morning began with Suzanne, the restaurant’s co-founder and owner, fearlessly leading our kiddos through the process of making their own mango guacamole. What I loved most is that Suz allowed the kids to do the prep work themselves… No watching an adult cook around here! She gave them the tools, modelled the process, and set them free to be the capable little chefs that they are.

Some avocado, mango, lime juice, and fresh herbs later, Gracen and her little friends had a delicious dip for their carrot sticks.

Next up was a simple and much better for you version of lemonade… A bunch of freshly-squeezed lemons, a little pour of pure maple syrup, and a lot of icy cold water and we had a drink that will be perfect for hot summer days.

After that, we made my personal favourite… Suz’s apple pie popcorn (you can see our slightly modified version here). Oh my goodness. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a sweet popcorn nearly as delicious, and Gracen agreed all the way. When it was time to move onto making our pizzas, I basically had to pry her popcorn bowl out of her hands, promising to keep the crumbs for later.

Together, Portia (one of the sweet little ladies belonging to Jessica of North Shore Mama) and Gracen shared the duties of making a pizza from scratch. Grae covered her half in chicken, mango, and cheese, and ate all 3 pieces once out of the oven.

Despite the fact that Grae had had an early morning and had a couple of meltdowns during the workshop, it was such a wonderful morning. Because it’s hard for the combination of friends, cooking, and delicious food to equal anything but wonderful, really.

Once again, we owe Suzanne and Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. a huge thank you for graciously having us all down to experiment and learn. If you’re in Vancouver, or Canmore for that matter, I highly recommend visiting a RMFC location for one of their weekly family pizza nights. I promise it will be a blast, just as I’m sure one of their onsite birthday parties would be.

Also, as a little treat, one of RMFC’s Facebook fans will be chosen at random and given 2 tickets to enjoy their family pizza night! Be sure to ‘like’ their page to qualify.

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

After our recent Shopping Sense tour, some of my {awesome} mama blogger friends and I planned on grabbing a cup of coffee, sitting down, and catching up for a bit. The thing was, it was already lunch time, we were all hungry, and the kiddos were tired of being restrained in shopping carts. They needed to play. So where can you go to catch up with friends, grab a fresh delicious meal, and let your kiddos play all at once? Luckily we were in my hood and I knew the perfect place. Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company.

I’ve written about Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company before, but if you haven’t heard their story before, it’s truly pretty amazing. First off, their entire menu is designed to use the freshest, most nutritious ingredients possible. The produce they use is local and organic, the meats are Canadian and free range or organic, and their seafood is all Ocean Wise approved. Their promise is that their food includes minimal salt and sugar and absolutely no GMOs, additives, or preservatives. (Talk about a place you can feel good about eating out at!) Of course, every single thing – from dough to sauces to breads and desserts – is made fresh on site. And it doesn’t stop there. Rocky Mountain Flatbread restaurants are all carbon neutral. Amazing, right? (Read about how they do it here.) In addition to all of this, they pride themselves on being family-friendly, which is huge when you’ve got munchkins in tow. The Main Street location, which we visited, has an awesome little kitchen area, complete with felt food and miniature aprons, that kept our wee ones happy during a nearly two hour visit. And as always, the food was delicious.

What I just learned about Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company, and didn’t know before is that they do all kinds of fun special events. Some, like their family nights, date nights, and pizza making nights happen on a weekly basis, and others, like the Green Cleaning Products workshop I’m attending next week, happen only on special dates.

In addition to the cleaning products workshop, the Main Street location is hosting a Kid’s Camp this Spring Break too. It takes place on March 21st, from 9:30 a.m. until 12 p.m. and kids aged 7 to 12 will have a blast learning how to make their own lunches out of fresh, local, organic ingredients. Included on the menu is homemade ginger ale, healthy kale chips, individual pizzas, veggie dips, and their signature BEET brownies! Goodness gracious, how I wish Miss G was old enough to attend. The next best thing is being able to help a couple of other local kids go though. Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company has very generously given us TWO spots (valued at $35 a child) to give away to Mama.Papa.Bubba. readers. Yay!

Please note that this camp takes place in Vancouver, BC on March, 21st and is open to children ages 7 through 12. The winners will be chosen at random on Friday, March 15th, 2013.

There are FOUR ways to enter. Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each: